Half to



(No Model.) i l M. THIBAULT,

RAIL JOINT vFlxiTElvIlIGfl NO- 256,812. Patented Apr.18,1882.

C' l c: u, l g E Fly?? CE'J UNITE@ STATES PATENT Ormea.

MAeLoInn THIBAULT, or OTTAWA, ONTARIO, OANADA, AssieNOn or ONFJT HALF To' MAXIME BnLANena AND JOHN sWnnTLANn, BOTH on sAMn PLACE.

RAIL-JOINT FASTENING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 256,812, dated April 18, 1882.

l y Application led December 12, 1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, MAGLOIRE THIBAULT, of the city of Ottawa, in the county of Carleton, in the Province of Ontario, Canada, haveA invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Bailway-Rail-JointFast'eners; and I do hereby declare the following to'be a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

The object of my invention is to provide a 1o fastener for joining and holding together the ends of the rails of railways that will be less costly and at the same time more secure and reliable than the appliances at present in use for that purpose. By its use the employment of screwed bolts and nuts is entirelydispensed with, and any working loose and getting out of place ot' the ends of the rails by wear or jarring is rendered absolutely impossible.

I will now proceed to describe as minutely zo as possible its construction and application, so

that others skilled in the department of railway-work to which it belongs may easily comprehend what my invention'is.

Reference being had to the annexed draw ings, Figure 1 is a face elevation, showing the end portions of two rails joined by my improved rail-fastener. Fig. 2 is also a face elevation, but with the outer part removed so as to show the internal arrangement. Fig. 3 is 3o a horizontal section on line x a". Fig. et is a transverse section on line y y, and Fig. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of the bolt which binds the lish=plate in place.

A A represent the railway-rails, through the webs of which, and at suitable distances from the ends ofthe rail, are formed the boltholes a.

B is a Iishplate,havingthrongh it the bolt holes b, corresponding in size and distance 4o apart with the bolt-holes a in the rails. When in use this fish-plate is placed against the web of the rails, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, its inner face bein g slightly recessed longitudinally, as shown in Fig. 4, so that only its upper and lower edges bear against the rail. Its length should be such as will allow it to lap snfliciently onto each rail to cover the number of holdin g-bolts to be employed in the fastening, and which will be hereinafter fully described.

5o C C represent two tapered keys or wedgeshaped pieces, made similar in shape. They have formed in them a' series of slots, c, made lengthwise with the length of the key, and having their ends c', which are toward. the thin ends of the keys, enlarged, as shown, the'ob- 55 ject of which will be hereinafter explained. In use these keys are placed together, back to back, as shown, and the thin end of one key against the thick end of the other. It is 0bviousf'rom this that as the twokeys are driven 6o `together endwise the distance between their outer faces will be increased. These keys are placed against the web of the rail on the opposite side from and immediately Opposite to the fish-plate B.

D D represent the holding-bolts by which the fastener is held together. Aportion of -their Shanks is made smaller than the remainder, thus forming a kind of a neck, d, by recesses formed in their sides, substantially as 7o shown in Fig. 5. rIlhis neck may, however, be made square, round, or of any other desirable shape'in section that will suit the purpose here intended. Thenecksthusformedintheshanks of the bolts D'l are reduced to such a size that 75 they will move easily through the narrow part of the slots c, and are so located in the shank that when the bolts are in place the necks will reach through the tapered keys C. That portion of thebolt which extends out past the 8o keys is left the full size of the shank, thus forming the shoulders e, under which the outside edges of the slots c slide as the keys are driven together. From this it will be seen that after the edges of the slots c next to their 8 5 enlargements c have been entered behind the shoulders vc of the bolts D the driving` of the thicker portions of the keys under said shoulders will have the effectof drawing the bolts through and binding the {ish-plate B and 9o tapered keys (l tightly against the opposite sides of the rails. The rails A being placed in position, the fish-plate B is applied to the joint and the holding-bolts D pushed through the bolt-holes bin the ish-plate and a in the rails until the heads of the bolts come against the back of the sh-plate. The keys G are then pnt in place against the opposite side of the rail. The slots c being equal in number and their enlargements c being the same disA reo tance apart as the bolt-holes a and b, the keys may be placed against the rails so that the Shanks ofthe bolts will extend through these enlargements, which are only ofa sufiicien t size to admit easily the shank of the bolt D.

In the inner fareot' the keys C are formed a serzes of grooves or notches,f, extending across the width ofthe key and ata shortdistance apart. rlhe depth and width of these grooves is slightly greater than one-half of the cross-sectional area ot the lockingpinsE, so that when the two tapered keys C are driven together in their place until one or more of the grooves in one ot' the keys come opposite one or more of those in the other key one of the locking-pins E may be dropped into such grooves, and will et't'ectually prevent the withdrawal or working loose ot the keys so long as the locking-pin remains in the groove. The accidental or easy removal of these lockingpins 'rom between the keys C may be prevented by simply bending the ends of the pin that protrude past the upper and lower edges of the keys.

In order to permit lhe ready removal of the tapered plates without mutilation or injury, they are provided, as shown, with notches or recesses g, into which a lever or other device may be inserted to effect their removal.

It will be seen that the two tapered plates Having thus fully described my invention, W

what I claim7 and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. Thejoint-f'astening consisting of the plate B, necked bolts D, the two tapered slotted plates C, provided with notehesf, and the piu E, as shown.

2. As a new article ot' manutcture, a dat tapered plate provided with longitudinal slots enlarged at one end and with transverse grooves in one face.

3. The tapered slotted plate C, provided with the groovesffora fastening-pin and the 55 notch g to facilitate their removal.

MAGLOIRE THIBAULT. NTitiiessrs:

N. MoFFE'r'rE, Ls. E. NoL. 

